Pages

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Buddha on Assuming a Self

"To
what extent, Ananda, does one assume when assuming a self? Assuming feeling to
be the self, one assumes that 'Feeling is my self' or 'Feeling is not my
self: My self is oblivious to feeling' or 'Neither is feeling my self, nor
is my self oblivious to feeling, but rather my self feels, in that my self is
subject to feeling.'

"Now,
one who says, 'Feeling is my self,' should be addressed as follows: 'There are
these three feelings, my friend — feelings of pleasure, feelings of pain, and
feelings of neither pleasure nor pain. Which of these three feelings do you
assume to be the self?' At a moment when a feeling of pleasure is sensed, no
feeling of pain or of neither pleasure nor pain is sensed. Only a feeling of
pleasure is sensed at that moment. At a moment when a feeling of pain is
sensed, no feeling of pleasure or of neither pleasure nor pain is sensed. Only
a feeling of pain is sensed at that moment. At a moment when a feeling of
neither pleasure nor pain is sensed, no feeling of pleasure or of pain is
sensed. Only a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain is sensed at that moment.

"Now,
a feeling of pleasure is inconstant, fabricated, dependent on conditions,
subject to passing away, dissolution, fading, and cessation. A feeling of pain
is inconstant, fabricated, dependent on conditions, subject to passing away,
dissolution, fading, and cessation. A feeling of neither pleasure nor pain is
inconstant, fabricated, dependent on conditions, subject to passing away,
dissolution, fading, and cessation. Having sensed a feeling of pleasure as 'my
self,' then with the cessation of one's very own feeling of pleasure, 'my self'
has perished. Having sensed a feeling of pain as 'my self,' then with the
cessation of one's very own feeling of pain, 'my self' has perished. Having
sensed a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain as 'my self,' then with the
cessation of one's very own feeling of neither pleasure nor pain, 'my self' has
perished.

"Thus
he assumes, assuming in the immediate present a self inconstant, entangled in
pleasure and pain, subject to arising and passing away, he who says, 'Feeling
is my self.' Thus in this manner, Ananda, one does not see fit to assume
feeling to be the self.

"As
for the person who says, 'Feeling is not the self: My self is oblivious to
feeling,' he should be addressed as follows: 'My friend, where nothing
whatsoever is sensed (experienced) at all, would there be the thought, "I
am"?'"

"No,
Blessed One."

"Thus
in this manner, Ananda, one does not see fit to assume that 'Feeling is not my
self: My self is oblivious to feeling.'

"As
for the person who says, 'Neither is feeling my self, nor is my self oblivious
to feeling, but rather my self feels, in that my self is subject to feeling,'
he should be addressed as follows: 'My friend, should feelings altogether and
every way stop without remainder, then with feeling completely not existing,
owing to the cessation of feeling, would there be the thought, "I
am"?'"

"No,
Blessed One."

"Thus
in this manner, Ananda, one does not see fit to assume that 'Neither is feeling
my self, nor is my self oblivious to feeling, but rather my self feels, in
that my self is subject to feeling.'

"Now,
Ananda, in as far as a monk does not assume feeling to be the self, nor the
self as oblivious to feeling, nor that 'My self feels, in that my self is subject to
feeling,' then, not assuming in this way, he is not sustained by anything (does
not cling to anything) in the world. Unsustained, he is not agitated.
Unagitated, he is totally unbound right within. He discerns that 'Birth is
ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for
this world.'”

(Excerpted from the Maha-nidana
Sutta, Digha Nikaya 15, Tipitaka. Note: Ananda was Buddha’s cousin, personal attendant
& a monk who realized nirvana himself after Buddha passed away; Buddha often
referred to monks in his discourses as it was monks that he was addressing, but
the above teaching applies to nuns & laity also.)